Patna, 19 August(Wishav Warta): On a day when dissenting JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav skipped the national executive meeting of the Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) and held a ‘parallel’ Jan meet of his supporters, he found an immediate backer in RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Within hours of the JD (U) executive endorsing a proposal for the party to join the BJP-led NDA, Prasad described the Sharad Yadav-led group as the ‘real JD(U)’ and custodian of the JD (U)’s poll symbol ‘arrow’.
“Nitish Kumar has joined the BJP and he should now contest election on the lotus symbol of the saffron outfit. Sharad Yadav‘s party is the real JD (U) and the actual owner of the poll symbol of the party,” Prasad said, hinting that factionalism within the JD (U) might lead to a split in the party. For its part, Sharad’s group indicated that it would approach the Election Commission (EC) to claim the arrow symbol, which is claimed by the Nitish Kumar led ‘official’ group.
To underscore Sharad group’s claim to be the ‘real’ JD(U), the RJD chief recalled how Yadav, the socialist veteran, was the founding member of the original Janata Dal and CM Nitish Kumar’s Samata Party, an outfit launched in 1994, had merged with it in 2003, to form the JD (U).
Claiming CM Nitish Kumar was now “scared” of Sharad, after he undertook a statewide tour to “expose” Kumar for joining hands with the BJP and “betraying the people’s trust”, Lalu said he had invited Sharad to participate in the RJD’s anti-BJP rally in Patna on August 27.
